Psychology · Ep
Ethical
persuasion.
Ethical persuasion helps people make a choice they'd still be happy with if they could see exactly what you did. Manipulation, often called dark patterns, gets a yes by hiding, pressuring or tricking. The difference now matters legally: Australia's unfair trading practices laws passed on 2 July 2026 and start on 1 July 2027, covering hidden fees, hard-to-cancel subscriptions and design that manipulates. It also matters commercially: in one Australian survey, almost 1 in 3 people stopped using a site or app after a manipulative design.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer applying published research. Last checked 30 October 2026.An illustration of the idea, not data. The test: would the buyer still say yes if they saw exactly what you were doing?
What the
research says.
Evidence: StrongStrong evidence that dark patterns lift short-term numbers, and good evidence they cost trust. Long-term business effects are less studied, so measure refunds, complaints and repeat customers, not just sign-ups.
Dark patterns are common, and some are sold as ready-made plug-ins. A crawl of about 11,000 shopping sites found 1,818 dark pattern instances, 183 sites using deceptive ones, and 22 companies selling them as products.
They work, at first. In an experiment with a fake data protection plan, Luguri and Strahilevitz found people shown mild dark patterns were more than twice as likely to stay signed up, and almost four times as likely with aggressive ones. The aggressive versions also caused a strong backlash, and less educated people were more susceptible to the mild ones.
Australians notice. The Consumer Policy Research Centre surveyed 2,000 people and found 83% had experienced at least one harm from designs meant to steer them. Almost 1 in 3 stopped using the site or app, and almost 1 in 6 said their trust in the business was undermined.
That backlash has a long-standing explanation. Friestad and Wright's persuasion knowledge model describes how people learn to recognise persuasion attempts and use them to judge the marketer, not just the product. Once a buyer spots a trick, they start reading everything you say as one.
In your
marketing.
Checkout
Show delivery, booking or card fees next to the first price, not at the last step. From July 2027, the law requires it.
E-commerce
Subscriptions
If people can join online, let them cancel online, in about as many steps.
B2B
Bookings
Real availability only. 'Two appointments left today' must be true today.
Health
Sign-up forms
Separate, unticked boxes for marketing. One box for everything is bundled consent.
Hospitality
Where it backfires
Timers that reset, fake 'people viewing' counters, guilt-trip 'no' buttons. They work until the buyer notices, then everything you say reads as a trick.
All
Manipulative,
or honest?
The same goal, reached two ways. The honest version still persuades. It just lets people see what's happening.
| Situation | Manipulative | Honest |
|---|---|---|
| Online store checkout | $49, then a $9.95 'handling fee' on the last screen | '$49 + $9.95 delivery' next to the price, or free over a set amount |
| Gym or software subscription | Join online, cancel by phone during business hours | Cancel in the same account screen you joined from |
| Clinic bookings | 'Only 1 spot left!' on every day | Real open times, shown as they are |
| Café newsletter | Pre-ticked 'Send me offers' on the order form | Unticked box, and a line saying what you'll send and how often |
| B2B free trial | Card charged on day 15 with no warning | An email three days before, with a one-click cancel link |
Try it
Check your checkout
for dark patterns.
Tick anything your checkout, sign-up or cancellation flow does. Each one comes back with why it's a problem and the honest version. Most aren't deliberate. They're defaults nobody questioned.
To fix
0
Laws checked 30 October 2026. A marketer's checklist, not legal advice: check with the ACCC or a lawyer for your situation.
Try this
Walk through your own cancel flow on a phone and count the steps.
It backfires when
It works once and costs you the customer.
In my experience
Most of the dark patterns I come across aren't deliberate. They're defaults: a newsletter box that came pre-ticked, a 'people are viewing this' widget installed with an app, a booking fee that only shows on the last screen. Nobody chose them, and they're usually quick to remove once someone looks.
Test it on
your own buyers.
- 1
Walk your own flow
On a phone, as a customer: sign up, buy, then try to cancel. Screenshot every step.
- 2
Count the gap
Steps to join versus steps to leave. Fees shown first versus fees charged. Any gap is where people feel tricked.
- 3
Fix one thing
Start with price or cancelling. Show fees up front, or put cancel next to sign-up.
- 4
Measure more than sign-ups
Four weeks before and after: completed sales, refunds, complaints, chargebacks and repeat customers. That's the real cost of a dark pattern.
Questions
people ask.
What is a dark pattern?
A design that steers people into a choice they might not make if they saw clearly what was happening: hidden fees, pre-ticked boxes, fake urgency, hard-to-cancel subscriptions. Researchers have found them on hundreds of shopping sites.
Are dark patterns illegal in Australia?
Many already are, where they mislead. From 1 July 2027, new laws add a general ban on conduct that manipulates consumers or unreasonably distorts their decisions, plus specific rules on drip pricing and subscriptions. Penalties for companies can reach $100 million.
What is drip pricing?
Showing a low price first and adding fees later in the checkout. From July 2027, transaction fees must be disclosed close to the base price, not in fine print or on another page.
Do I have to let customers cancel online?
From 1 July 2027, if people can sign up online, one way to cancel must be online too, and it must be easy to find.
Is urgency always manipulative?
No. A real deadline, real stock levels or a genuine price rise is useful information. It becomes manipulation when it isn't true: timers that reset, 'only 2 left' that's always 2.
Won't honest design cost me conversions?
Sometimes, in the short run. Dark patterns can lift sign-ups. But almost 1 in 3 Australians stopped using a site after one. Count refunds, complaints and repeat customers alongside sign-ups before deciding which is cheaper.
Do pre-ticked boxes count as consent?
The OAIC says consent must be voluntary and informed, and that silence only counts if a clear, easy opt-out was offered. Pre-ticked marketing boxes are also among the patterns the new unfair trading laws target.
Keep going
Where is this costing
you sales?
Takes a minute. Audits come back within 1 to 2 business days. For anything else, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
What happens next
- 1I'll ask for read-only access, or just your website for a search audit.
- 2I go through it and write up the 3 biggest fixes.
- 3A 20-minute call to walk you through it. No pitch unless you ask.